English language
Published Aug. 21, 2020 by Simon Schuster.
This book is so much more about fish, and in some sense only about the fish. I thoroughly enjoyed every single page and what it had to offer. The writing is amazing. The reflections are scary. The reality is unwind.
Content warning A little spoilery perhaps
This book turned out to be so much more than what I expected! From an interesting start as an exploration of the life of a taxonomist, into existential dread and the deep rooted conflict of chaos and order, edging into deep ecology. Clear recommend!
I liked this, gobbled it right up. I like the overall message of not over-relying on categories & patterns, but I also worry about the era of “epistemic chaos” we’re in right now - and I know that has nothing to do with the point of this book, so I’m giving it a genuine 4/5. There are so many lovely moments of looking at stuff from a trick mirror view in this book, or a one-way mirror, or a parallel universe… the unimportance of you is the importance of you. “I’m happy just because I found out I am really no one.”
Spectacularly good
Really liked this book. Listened to the audiobook read by the author. I didn't know anything before listening to it, and it was a very interesting and meandering memoir type book. I say meandering, not because there were random tangents, but because how the book surprises you with it's twists and turns and connections.
So much more than an investigation into the problematic ethics of an adventuring biologist/taxonomist at the turn of the 20th century, or a quirky brief memoir of young adulthood, she takes on the big questions of chaos and meaning and lands somewhere beautiful.
I sat on this review a long while before typing this out. I'm not sure whatever I say about it here will do it justice. I guess, in short form, if the idea of discovering why we feel the need to categorize things (plants, fish, people) can be harmful appeals to you and you don't mind taking a long journey of discovery to get there, this book is for you.
The description here on Goodreads doesn't really do this book justice; yes, David Starr Jordan's taxonomic quest to label all fish is the reason for the book existing, but it's far from the point of the book. The author's quest to rebuild her life through this obsession with David Starr Jordan is a main point of the story, but even that is just the framework for the larger theme of labelling being harmful and accepting fundamental changes without falling to …
I sat on this review a long while before typing this out. I'm not sure whatever I say about it here will do it justice. I guess, in short form, if the idea of discovering why we feel the need to categorize things (plants, fish, people) can be harmful appeals to you and you don't mind taking a long journey of discovery to get there, this book is for you.
The description here on Goodreads doesn't really do this book justice; yes, David Starr Jordan's taxonomic quest to label all fish is the reason for the book existing, but it's far from the point of the book. The author's quest to rebuild her life through this obsession with David Starr Jordan is a main point of the story, but even that is just the framework for the larger theme of labelling being harmful and accepting fundamental changes without falling to pieces. Either you accept that fish don't exist and reorder your life around this fundamental change, or you categorically reject it and find yourself lost without a compass.
The buildup this book provides is important, and you can't skip parts to go on to the "better ones", because you need the buildup for the payoff to matter and have meaning. Your perceptions and beliefs about what you've read are constantly being flipped on their heads as you go on this wild ride from David Starr Jordan being this quirky biologist to being a racist eugenicist who maybe killed his wife. I had a lot of whiplash moments when things abruptly changed on me, and I really enjoyed the feeling of "well I guess this book can go anywhere now".
After a lot of thought, this ended up making my favorites shelf for this year. I had no idea I was in for the ride I went on.
There's a brilliant comic I remember seeing some years ago: two panels, the first showing a face torn by anguish and despair, the caption "Nothing matters"; the second panel, a beatific face radiating serenity, with the same caption. Miller begins with a childhood memory of her father — exhilaratedly a panel 2 person — filling her in on that secret. Sadly, the disclosure had the opposite effect to what her father intended: Miller ended up solidly in panel one. This fascinating book is her attempt to navigate the conundrum for herself.
I'd heard a lot about the book, but nothing could really prepare me for its twists and tangents. More melodramatic than I had expected, also much more engaging. Also sweet, educational, perhaps even enlightening to some. (I also suspect that there are people who will not get it at all.) Self-awareness and self-delusion: how do we balance their conflicting …
There's a brilliant comic I remember seeing some years ago: two panels, the first showing a face torn by anguish and despair, the caption "Nothing matters"; the second panel, a beatific face radiating serenity, with the same caption. Miller begins with a childhood memory of her father — exhilaratedly a panel 2 person — filling her in on that secret. Sadly, the disclosure had the opposite effect to what her father intended: Miller ended up solidly in panel one. This fascinating book is her attempt to navigate the conundrum for herself.
I'd heard a lot about the book, but nothing could really prepare me for its twists and tangents. More melodramatic than I had expected, also much more engaging. Also sweet, educational, perhaps even enlightening to some. (I also suspect that there are people who will not get it at all.) Self-awareness and self-delusion: how do we balance their conflicting yet equally vital rĂ´les in our lives? I've long juggled my answer; Miller is juggling hers, and gives us insights into that big question.
My favorite line, from an early chapter: Miller quotes her father as saying "While other people don't matter, either, treat them like they do." Yep, that's my mantra too.
A biography of an enigmatic naturalist through the lens of the author's own struggles to deal with the chaos in her life. The stories enlighten each other.
this was shaping up to be a 4 star read until 3/4th of the book when the author reveals that the central character of her book is a EUGENICIST?!!!! And not just any eugenicist, the one who lead to a lot of laws being built around forced sterilisation. The generous treatment of David Starr Jordan in the first 75% is SO ANNOYING. And ofc the author failed to mention how the eugenicist policies were probably very RACIST. And the only cosmic karma was that fish don't exist? LMAO.
